Local Actors on a Global Stage: Cooperatives in Canada and asia Entering the New Millennium-A Study Report

Abstract

At the request of the CIDA Asia Branch, the Canadian Co-operative Association (CCA) and Developpement International Desjardins (DID) presented an information session entitled “Co-operatives, Globalization and Asia” in Ottawa on May 21, 1996. The purpose of the session was to highlight the work of the two organizations with co-operatives in Asia. Asia was experiencing dynamic economic growth. Liberalized trade, massive inflows of capital, and global information technology had brought wealth. But economic disparities between nations and between the rich and poor within nations widened. Co-operatives had made significant advances in helping the poor and low-income people improve their living standards, but poverty was still a major problem. Now, a number of countries in the region are experiencing acute economic crises and social dislocation. This dramatic change makes it all the more pertinent to explore the ‘co-operative difference’ for Asia.